The Texas Chain Saw Massacre‘s multiple timelines and similar titles make Halloween‘s chronology seem straightforward. You’d be hard-pressed to find a movie that has been remade, rebooted, sequelized, and prequelized more. With a new installment – the third one titled some variation of Texas Chainsaw Massacre – hitting Netflix on February 18, let’s saw into Leatherface’s divergent mythology.
In 1974, director Tobe Hooper revolutionized the horror genre with a low-budget independent film. It was first called Leatherface when Hooper and Kim Henkel wrote the script, then it was given the working title of Headcheese before they settled on an evocative name befitting of such a harrowing experience: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Note that Chain Saw is two words, per the opening title card as well as the copyright registration. While the iconic poster uses the grammatically correct Chainsaw, the misnomer helps differentiate the original from later entries.
The film is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five teenagers – Sally (Marilyn Burns), her paraplegic brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain), and their friends Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn) – in rural Texas. They encounter the cannibalistic Sawyer family; among them is a chainsaw-wielding, human skin-wearing butcher colloquially known as Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen).
Although marketed as a true story – beyond the brilliant “Who will survive and what will be left of them?” tagline, the original poster also reads “America’s most bizarre and brutal crimes!” and “What happened is true. Now the motion picture that’s just as real.” – the film is only loosely based on the crimes of notorious murderer Ed Gein (who also inspired Psycho‘s Norman Bates and The Silence of the Lambs‘ Buffalo Bill, among others). In truth, Hooper was more influenced by America’s tumultuous sociopolitical landscape at the time.
Despite the film’s unexpected success – it was the 12th highest-grossing film of 1974 and, after various re-releases, grossed more than $30 million in North America – the first sequel didn’t come to fruition until 1986. As the final part of his three-picture deal with Cannon Films (following 1985’s Lifeforce and 1986’s Invaders from Mars), Hooper returned to helm The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 from a script by L.M. Kit Carson (Paris, Texas).
With Sally having “sank into catatonia” following the events of the first film, per the opening crawl, radio DJ Stretch (Caroline Williams) assumes the final girl role. She teams with Sally and Franklin’s uncle, Lefty (a maniacal Dennis Hopper), to take down Leatherface (Bill Johnson) and his deranged family at their abandoned carnival compound adorned with human remains.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2‘s tone is drastically different from that of its predecessor. Much to Cannon Films’ dismay, Hooper was more interested in making an over-the-top black comedy than another horror movie – and he had the creative control to do so. Viewers anticipating a rehash were likely disappointed (though the film’s Breakfast Club parody poster should have indicated a comedic bend), but it was a modest success, earning $8 million at the box office on a $4.5 million budget with lucrative video rentals to follow. Despite the early mixed response, it has since come to be considered one of the stronger entries in the storied franchise.
Hoping to have another profitable horror franchise as A Nightmare on Elm Street was experiencing diminishing returns, New Line Cinema nabbed the rights and released Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III in 1990. The first Chainsaw made without Hooper’s involvement, it’s directed by Jeff Burr – no stranger to horror sequels, having tackled Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy right before and Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings, Puppet Master 4, and Puppet Master 5 in the years that followed – from a script by David J. Schow (The Crow).
Despite the III in the title, the movie ignores the events of Part 2. The opening text reveals that Sally died in a private health care facility in 1977 and Leatherface was never apprehended. (A cameo by Williams as a reporter further muddles the timeline.) The story follows couple Michelle (Kate Hodge, The Hidden II) and Ryan (William Butler, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood) and trucker Benny (Ken Foree, Dawn of the Dead) as they square off against Leatherface (R. A. Mihailoff, Hatchet II) and other Sawyer family members, including a young Viggo Mortensen as the alluring Tex.
Following extensive censorship from the MPAA, Leatherface earned a mere $5.7 million at the box office, prompting New Line to abandon plans for further installments. The saw would remain silent until original Chain Saw co-writer Kim Henkel returned to the fold to write, direct, and produce a new entry. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation is essentially a direct sequel to the original, although its opening text refers to “two minor, yet apparently related incidents” that occurred after 1973. Regardless, it plays more like a quasi-remake.
The film is notable for starring then-unknowns Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey just before they broke out in Hollywood. Zellweger plays a teenager who, on prom night, encounters Leatherface (Robert Jacks) and other members of his sadistic family – now given the contrived surname Slaughter instead of Sawyer. A hospital scene at the end features cameos from original Chain Saw actors Burns (credited as Anonymous), Partain, and John Dugan.
The fourth installment premiered under the title Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre at South by Southwest in 1995, after which it was purchased by Columbia Pictures and given a very limited release – 27 theaters across the country – later that year. Following Zellweger’s co-starring turn in 1996’s Jerry Maguire, the movie was recut and briefly re-released in a handful of theaters in 1997 as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Between the two theatrical bows, it earned a paltry $186,000.
The franchise lay dormant for several years, during which Hooper’s son, William Hooper, developed a project titled All American Massacre that would serve as both a prequel to the franchise and a direct sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. It centered on Part 2’s Chop Top – with genre favorite Bill Moseley reprising his role – who has been captured (despite plummeting to his death last we saw him) and is being interviewed at a psychiatric facility before escaping for another reign of terror. Production took place between 1998 and 2000, but the film was never released due to a lack of funds (not to mention rights).
In 2001, Michael Bay’s newly-launched Platinum Dunes – a production company formed to produce lower budgeted films – acquired the rights to remake the original Chain Saw. Released in 2003 by New Line Cinema, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre marks the feature debut of longtime music video director Marcus Nispel (who went on to tackle the Friday the 13th remake) from a script by Scott Kosar (who later wrote The Amityville Horror and The Crazies remakes). Hooper and Henkel served as co-producers, and Chain Saw cinematographer Daniel Pearl returned to shoot the new movie.
The plot is similar to that of the original, even adopting the 1973 setting. On a road trip, Erin (Jessica Biel, Blade: Trinity), her boyfriend Kemper (Eric Balfour, Six Feet Under), and their friends Morgan (Jonathan Tucker, The Ruins), Pepper (Erica Leerhsen, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2), and Andy (Mike Vogel, Cloverfield) find themselves being tormented by Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski), Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey, Full Metal Jacket), and the rest of the murderous Hewitt – not Sawyer – clan.
Grossing over $107 million on a $9.5 million budget, the film’s massive success kick-started the horror remake trend that dominated much of the 2000s. Platinum Dunes would capitalize with a prequel to the remake, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, in 2006. Jonathan Liebesman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) directs from a script by Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air), who shares story credit with none other than Texas Chainsaw Massacre III scribe David J. Schow.
Set in 1969, the origin story finds brothers Dean (Taylor Handley, Mayor of Kingstown) and Eric (Matt Bomer, Doom Patrol) driving across the country with their girlfriends, Chrissie (Jordana Brewster, The Fast and the Furious) and Bailey (Diora Baird, Stan Helsing), before enlisting in the Vietnam War. After a car accident, they wind up at the Hewitt residence. Along the way, it digs into the backstory of Leatherface (Bryniarski, making him the only actor to reprise the role) and his kin.
The Beginning grossed less than half of the remake and was critically reviled – it’s currently the lowest rated of the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes, at 14%, although several other entries don’t fare much better – but it still earned $51.8 million on a budget of $16 million. Nevertheless, the remake timeline comes to a close after only two films.
In 2013, Millennium Films and Lionsgate returned to the source with Texas Chainsaw (or Texas Chainsaw 3D, as it was marketed theatrically), yet another direct sequel to Hooper’s original film. John Luessenhop (Takers) directs from a script by Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday), Debra Sullivan, and Kirsten Elms. Hooper and Henkel receive executive producer credits.
The opening scene – arguably the highlight of the movie – sees Burns, Hansen, and Dugan cameo as members of the Sawyer family in a deadly standoff against vigilantes following the events of the original movie. (It would be both Burns’ and Hansen’s final film, as they passed away in 2014 and 2015, respectively.) Bill Moseley also returns to the franchise, this time as patriarch Drayton Sawyer, taking over the role originated by Jim Siedow in the first two movies.
The rest of the film is set in the present, but it desperately wants viewers to forget that Chain Saw took place in 1973. The contemporary setting means 27-year-old Alexandra Daddario’s (The White Lotus) main character of Heather would be in her 40s. She and her boyfriend (R&B artist Trey Songz) go to Texas for an impromptu family reunion when her cousin, Leatherface (Dan Yeager), shows up with his trusty chainsaw.
Texas Chainsaw earned $47.2 million on a $20 million budget. Rather than another sequel, Millennium Films and Lionsgate re-teamed for a prequel to Chain Saw titled Leatherface in 2017. French filmmaking duo Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury (Inside) direct from a script by Seth M. Sherwood (Hell Fest). Hooper, in his final credit before his death that year, serves as executive producer alongside Henkel.
Set in 1965, the prequel takes a peculiar approach by following a group of teenagers who escape a mental institution; only at the end is it revealed which one goes on to become Leatherface, although the mystery element largely falls flat. The cast is headlined by Stephen Dorff (The Gate) as a Texas ranger on the case, Lili Taylor (The Conjuring) as the matriarch of the Sawyer household, and Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) as a deputy.
Filmed in Bulgaria in 2015, Leatherface was shelved until 2017, when it debuted exclusively on DirecTV, followed by a VOD and limited theatrical run (earning $1.5 million). With such an unceremonious roll-out, the future of the franchise was uncertain.
Enter Netflix, who acquired the rights to distribute a new installment produced by Legendary Pictures, once again shot in Bulgaria. Titled Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it’s directed by David Blue Garcia and written by Chris Thomas Devlin, based on a story conceived by producers Fede Alvarez (director of Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe) and frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is another direct sequel to the original Chain Saw, but this time around it has the prestige of being a “legacy sequel” in the vein of Halloween (2018) and Scream (2022). Not only is Leatherface (Mark Burnham, Lowlife) back, so too is Sally (Olwen Fouéré, Mandy). (The filmmakers have expressed that they would have wanted Hansen and Burns to reprise their roles if they were alive.) The sole survivor of the infamous massacre nearly 50 years ago, Sally meets a group of friends traveling in Texas when Leatherface strikes again.
That brings us up to date. In summation, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre spawned four sequels (each of which ignores the other follow-ups) before getting a remake with its own prequel, then a new direct sequel and prequel to the original, and now a new legacy sequel that once again ignores everything that came before it.
Still confused about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre timeline(s)? Ahead of the new movie slashing into Netflix, we whipped up an infographic to help make it all make sense…
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